The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines a “food desert” as an area with little to no access to fresh, affordable and healthy food. The USDA has categorized several Phoenix locations as food deserts, one of those being downtown south of Roosevelt Street.
There have long been efforts to remedy the problem of food accessibility and security for downtown residents. National chains seek out specific locations to accommodate their large store models. This makes attracting supermarkets challenging in urbanized areas.
Downtown Phoenix has not had a major grocery store in years. A lack of residential density has been a problem in the past, but that’s changing as construction of apartments and condos boom.
A report by Jenora D’Acosta, Finding Food Deserts, found that 80 percent of low income areas are more likely of being food deserts. In her report, D’Acosta studied the three components of health food accessibility: proximity, variety and competition. She was able to identify how food deserts differ by subjecting them to one of those three elements.
Proximity is pretty self-explanatory: how close are residents to healthy and affordable foods to a person? According to the USDA, healthy, affordable food is more than a mile away for residents of downtown Phoenix –this makes it difficult for those residents who do not have reliable sources of transportation.
Katherine Decker, an Arizona State University student and former resident of the food desert south of Roosevelt Row, recalls the frustration of needing groceries as a college student with little free time.
“I had to go pretty far to get healthy food. The closest grocery store that I could afford was 20 minutes away in car with no traffic,” Decker said, “If I didn’t have a car I would have to buy my groceries at Circle K, which has nothing and what they do have is expensive.”
Variety refers to the access neighborhoods have to a variety of food stores, D’Acosta breaks this down into four classifications: very high access, high access, low access or very low access. A majority of areas whose residents are considered low income fell under the Very Low Access category.
Alyna Deam, a two-year resident of Downtown Phoenix, says that she has a lot more options than most people because she has the advantage of an income that allows for the “luxury” of seeking healthy options.
“Everything I do is definitely a drive, but I rely most on Sprouts. Obviously having transportation, I never realized what a daunting task obtaining groceries could be especially for low income families, there really isn’t much,” Deam said.
The last element is competition. Competition considers what measures a resident must go through to find healthy food compared to how easily one finds unhealthy food. This is measured by calculating the distances to the nearest grocery store and the distance to the nearest fast food location.
Angel Gauna, a current resident of downtown Phoenix, makes trips on the light rail and walks about a mile to his nearest grocer.
“It’s totally frustrating, it’s almost like a workout because I take a reusable bag with me and have to haul it around on the bus or light rail. Then I have to stuff as much as I can into the bag so it limits how much I can purchase,” Gauna said.
Research has always concluded that food deserts hinder residents’ dietary habits and thus contribute to poor diet quality and heighten the risk for serious diseases. Since these food deserts are usually in more urbanized and low income areas the problem of little access to healthy food falls into that of environmental injustice.
Mayor Greg Stanton has not taken these problems lightly and is working to address them by investing in downtown projects to revitalize the area. He has expressed his desire to make the urban downtown Phoenix into a place that is not just livable or attractive to young adults but also to families with children.
Ali Liberman, a former ASU student, explained that despite the fact that the Stanton administration is focusing on the revitalization of downtown Phoenix there is still a lack of attention being given to affordable food options.
“Now that there is a student hub [in downtown Phoenix] there are more options but most are catered to those within a certain wealth bracket –those who can afford a $10-$20 healthy lunch. While those who cannot are still stuck with only fast food options,” said Liberman, who is currently getting her M.S. in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management at The New School, New York.
Efforts like the Fresh Express, a mobile grocer, and the Farmers Market both provide a level of food security and proximity to downtown residents, but they alone cannot fix the food desert downtown Phoenix is considered to be.
There continue to be projects underway that seek to also give downtown populaces the food security they want. An example of that is the pending opening of a Fry’s Food Store in the heart of downtown Phoenix.
The Fry’s will be a part of RED Development’s proposed 155,000-square-foot Block 23 mixed-use project in downtown Phoenix at Washington and First Streets.
JoEllen Lynn of Fry’s Food Stores said she is excited for the way the grocer will supplement all the renewal efforts that have been underway in downtown Phoenix the past decade.
“[Fry’s] is going to fulfill a longtime need in the downtown Phoenix area. The city of Phoenix has done a great job at revitalizing the area, but a grocer will meet a demand that has truly been needed,” said Lynn.
It was announced in April 2016 that the full-service grocery store would be expected by 2017. According to a press release put out by Fry’s Food Stores and RED Development, this action is one intended to meet the new needs of a revival in downtown Phoenix and neighboring districts.
Mayor Greg Stanton expressed his approval of this upcoming installment, “A new full-service grocery store will be a catalyst for more residential and neighborhood growth downtown for years to come.”
Councilman Michael Nowakowski said the arrival of a grocery store has been “10 years in the making.”
